Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand Announces 2025 Pasifika Navigator

William Kingi has been confirmed as the Pasifika Navigator for Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand (CANZ) in a brand new role for the organisation that manages our national choirs. With support from Creative NZ, the position will see CANZ “continue to amplify Pasifika voices” and develop its Pasifika strategy to strengthen and uplift the national choirs’ future Pasifika artists and audiences.

At the beginning of last year, CANZ launched a three-phased plan to better connect with and nurture Pasifika singers, conductors and their communities. 2024 saw roles for a Pasifika intern, Kasi Valu, followed by William (Will) in the role of Pasifika Co-ordinator. CANZ CE Arne Hermann says he is delighted to see Will step up to fulfill the next role in the initiative: Pasifika Navigator.

“My mission is to continue to amplify Pasifika voices,” says Will, “I’ll be advocating and supporting frameworks that ensure Pasifika representation and participation is embedded into Choirs Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s an evolving journey of strengthening our support and involvement with the Pasifika community”.

Will says he’s been building on Kasi’s work from early last year, which lay the groundwork for ongoing Talanoa with Pasifika choral artists. Will has already been consulting with external partners – like Moana Connect, the Pasifika Advisory Panel for NZ Rugby and the award-wining, Wellington-based Signature Choir – to help CANZ better support Pasifika artists who are firmly planted in the Pasifika world while also working within the traditional, Western culture of choral music.

2024 also saw the launch of four initiatives aimed at increasing Pasifika involvement with CANZ: the Pasifika Conducting Internship, the Pasifika Composer Residency, the Pasifika Singer Scholarship and the Pasifika Outreach Intern.

Enyah Talamaivao and Sam Uatahausi have been working with the national choirs as the 2024 Pasifika conducting interns and will continue their involvement this year, alongside the newest interns Ane Filimoehala and Robertanna Moa. The 2024 Pasifika Composer Residency has already allowed Andrew Faaleatua to deepen his compositional practice and establish key industry connections. Invaluable insights from a mentorship with composer Tuilagi Igelese Ete have shaped Andrew’s approach to composition and led to ongoing collaborations. Meantime, four Pasifika scholarships have been awarded to singers in the Aotearoa Academy Choir, our national training choir for ages 15-25.

Aucklander William Kingi is of Niuean heritage; a descendant of the village of Tamakautoga. He has over a decade’s experience in community arts, spanning music education in both Auckland and Shanghai, community engagement and, in 2024, he led the Pacific Festival of Brass as the Festival Coordinator/Community Outreach, while also coordinating a youth internship programme aligned with Auckland's UNESCO City of Music Strategy. Will is the Youth Advisor at SISTEMA Aotearoa (Otara, Auckland), where he champions cultural competency, youth leadership and pathways for young Pasifika musicians.

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